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Topic: Travel Tips for the Agoraphobe? (Read 483 times)

I have to travel soon and have no choice. But long car rides scare me (I hate being in the middle of nowhere) and planes, too. And unfamiliar places, I'm scared I'll be so terrified at my destination that I'll lose it, even with clonazepam. I feel like I must sound crazy, but is there any way to overcome this?

Take a pillow with you and hold it on your lap. you can hug it too, it is pretty comforting and gives you something to hold.

Look on you tube at the former backstreet boys member, who went on Oprah and had a full on panic attack. Whenever I am out I think if he could go on national TV in front of a huge audience AND panic and he was fine then I know I will be fine.

Take something from home that you take comfort in, like a stuffed animal, photograph etc.

Take a bottle of cold water!! this is important as you can splash some on your face to calm down.

Look online for soothing visualizations and copy some to your phone that you can listen to in order to keep calm.

If you panic, remind yourself that you are in no danger and that it will pass in a few minutes and then you will feel that rush of calm which is always awesome.

Take a few apples with you to chew on

Use your phone or take a camera with you and take pics of anything to keep yourself distracted. This helps a lot and the pics can be of anything.

Take some chamomile tea in a decanter to sip on, it is calming

And most importantly, have fun!!! Anxiety is just the same as excitement but we interpret it differently, so interpret it as a fun outing.

Hope it goes well, and remember that the anticipation is always worse than the actual event.

I have to travel soon and have no choice. But long car rides scare me (I hate being in the middle of nowhere) and planes, too. And unfamiliar places, I'm scared I'll be so terrified at my destination that I'll lose it, even with clonazepam. I feel like I must sound crazy, but is there any way to overcome this?

I feel exactly the same as you do. I know there's no quick solution, but I'm wondering if there is any solution to getting to the point where almost everyone around me is or appears to be.

my husband is military - and when we moved from virginia to florida, where we are currently stationed, it took me 3 days to get there with him. a ten hour drive took three days. but i trucked it through the last day with the covers over my head.

I'm terrified of flying and visualizations really worked for me. Like, for three weeks before you leave spend 15 minutes every night picturing yourself driving to the airport, then getting on the plane, sitting on the plane, taking off, the flight, landing and getting off and being okay the whole time. Really immerse yourself in it and imagine all the details. I though this sounded so stupid when my therapist first suggested it but it really helped!

You can always ask your doctor for some xanax or lorazapam or something as well, just knowing you have it if you need it is a huge relief.